As an avid fanfiction reader, losing your favorite story because it gets deleted or moved can feel like a bitter betrayal. Although most platforms, protective of author's rights, do not officially support backing up or exporting fanfiction, it is advisable to always have a personal backup of your cherished fanfiction stories to prevent such unfortunate circumstances. Therefore, in this article, we will discuss various methods to backup fanfiction from the most popular fanfiction sites.

Backing up Manually

One of the easiest ways to backup fanfiction is by manually copying and pasting the story into a document on your computer. This method, although somewhat laborious, does not require any tech-y skills. All you need to do is simply highlight the text, paste it into a word processing program, and save the file. However, a drawback of manual backup is that it can be time-consuming when dealing with long stories or multiple chapters. Make sure you are respecting the authors' rights when doing this.

Using Download Services

The second backup solution relies on using download services. There are a couple of them available, some website-specific, while others cater to multiple platforms. FanFictionDownloader, for instance, supports a variety of fanfic sites including FanFiction.net, AdultFanFiction.org, and FictionPress. It allows you to download stories in several formats such as EPUB, MOBI, PDF, and more, which can be read offline.

Another service, AO3, offers official support for downloading fanfic directly from their site in EPUB, MOBI, PDF, and HTML formats. While being very convenient, it is essential to know that these services, depending on their policy and technical aspects, may not always function properly or support all sites.

Using Browser Extensions

Besides manual download and web services, there are various browser extensions available that can help you backup fanfiction. Some: an extension that lets you download fanfiction from FanFiction.net, and AO3 savior, designed for AO3, which highlights and hides the stories based on your input.

Another extension is FicSave, an open-source online fanfiction downloader that allows you to save stories from various fanfiction sites. WebToEpub is another extension for browsers like Chrome and Firefox, which provides the ability to convert web pages into an EPUB file. All these extensions are very user friendly and easy to use but may require regular updates.

Using Calibre

Calibre is a free, open-source management tool that can organize your e-books. The fanfiction downloader plugin makes it possible to search for and download fanfiction from a variety of websites directly into your Calibre library. The plugin is not officially supported but is quite popular among fans. Moreover, using Calibre, you can convert your fanfiction into various formats such as EPUB, MOBI, and PDF, which can then be read on all major e-reading devices.

Though Calibre is relatively easy to use, it does require initial setup and installation. However, it is a highly robust solution for those who consume a large amount of fanfiction and require a structured, searchable library.

Using Wayback Machine

Lastly, consider using the Wayback Machine, a digital archive of the World Wide Web. It is useful in situations where the fanfiction has already been deleted. You input the URL of the fanfiction into the search bar, and if luck sides with you, the Wayback Machine will have a cached copy of the fanfic. However, do note that this is entirely up to chance, as the Wayback Machine does not cache everything on the internet.

FAQs

Q1: Can I share my backup files? A1: It depends on the author's permission. If they are okay with it, sure. If they haven't specified, ask them.

Q2: Can I backup all my fanfiction automatically? A2: Some download services and extensions do offer automatic backup coding, but each has its limitations; always check for each method's capabilities and limits.

Q3: Why would someone delete their fanfiction? A3: Authors often delete their fanfics for personal reasons, like not wanting their work associated with them anymore, or because of copyright infringement issues.

Conclusion

Backing up fanfiction is a way to ensure you never lose access to your favorite stories. Whether you choose to do it manually, using download services, a browser extension, Calibre, or the Wayback Machine, the most important thing is to always respect the rights of the authors and never share or distribute their work without permission.

References

1. FanFictionDownloader: https://www.fanfictiondownloader.net/

2. Calibre: https://calibre-ebook.com/

3. The Wayback Machine: https://archive.org/web/

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